A former Georgia police officer has been named the 2006 "Apprentice of the Year" by the Michigan Apprenticeship Steering Committee Inc. (MASCI). Kerry Gedge of Alanson, an Operating Engineer apprentice, was selected for her "integrity, work ethic, and commitment," according to Barbara S. Strachan, a spokeswoman for the committee.

MASCI is a partnership of labor, management, education, and the public, founded in 1977 to promote apprenticeship in Michigan. Now in its sixth year, the MASCI Apprentice of the Year award is open to all active apprentices in the more than 100 building and manufacturing trades in Michigan.

Gregg A. Newsom, training director of the Journeyman & Apprentice Training Fund's Howell Education Center for Operating Engineers Local 324, where Gedge has trained for the last four years, says she will make an outstanding journeyman operating engineer.

"Kerry Gedge is a remarkable young woman, who has demonstrated over and over the importance of having a positive attitude, self respect, and a strong work ethic," says Newsom. "Even as an apprentice, Kerry leads by example and positively affects those around her. She will make a valuable addition to any contractor's team."

According to MASCI, criteria for the award include attendance and punctuality in class and on the job; outstanding craft mastery and productivity; leadership skills and teamwork; safety awareness; spirit of competitiveness; community service; and commitment to their craft, their employer, their union, and their community.

"One of the reasons we do this is to help promote pride in the lives of the apprentices," says Strachan. "When an apprentice is finished with their program, that's really an accomplishment, and they should be proud of it. It all boils down to work ethic and personal integrity. Kerry Gedge has both."

According to Strachan, Gedge is the third Operating Engineer apprentice to win the award in Michigan since 2003. The others were Pam Walker and Clenton Weston Jr.

Gedge, who will graduate this month as a Journeyman Operating Engineer, is currently working as a crane oiler at the Consumers Energy J.J. Campbell Power Plant in West Olive, near Grand Haven. Previously she was a police officer in Statesboro, Georgia. She earned a bachelor of science in criminal justice from Georgia Southern University.

(From MichiganConstructionNews.com)